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Good one Charlie! Standing up.for yourself when stopped by the police.
- Thread starter exlatccatsa
- Start date
Sounds like he was speeding? Or thinks he might have been.
That being said, procedures have to be followed. He's wrong about one thing though - the opinion of a lone Police officer on a motorway (which the A303 isn't, but it's worth noting) is sufficient to convict and they don't have to prove an exact speed.
The cop not turning up to court doesn't mean that the guy is innocent, it just means the case wasn't proven. The net result is the same though, he wasn't convicted.
I'm all for the Police being held to standards on procedures etc, and people getting off because those procedures haven't been followed, but if it were me in his shoes I wouldn't be banging on about FOI requests etc if I thought I actually was speeding, I would just think "phew, got away with that due to a procedural error".
That being said, procedures have to be followed. He's wrong about one thing though - the opinion of a lone Police officer on a motorway (which the A303 isn't, but it's worth noting) is sufficient to convict and they don't have to prove an exact speed.
The cop not turning up to court doesn't mean that the guy is innocent, it just means the case wasn't proven. The net result is the same though, he wasn't convicted.
I'm all for the Police being held to standards on procedures etc, and people getting off because those procedures haven't been followed, but if it were me in his shoes I wouldn't be banging on about FOI requests etc if I thought I actually was speeding, I would just think "phew, got away with that due to a procedural error".
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
He'd been trying to get copies of the evidence for 9 months (in order to defend himself) and had received nothing ... and has been awarded costs ... and on top of that the PC didn't show up in court (nor the police ask for an adjournment if, for example, the PC was ill)
Either gross incompetence or it stinks.
I think the chap is right to be angry.
Let's just assume for a moment he was stitched up (and, ergo, others have too but just assumed that they should "Take the 3 points"). Then in that situation we rely on someone having-a-go to get the system sorted out.
If he was bang to rights and was speeding then the police should have prosecuted him
Billbrown1982
TM3 LR 2021 | Red | FSD
Hmmm gonna have a hot take on this one. Blokes blatantly been speeding, I'm gonna guess by quite a bit and by the sounds of it has done it before.
But he managed to blag his way out of it and instead of just taking the win, he is making a huge fuss about it...not sure that is the best approach.
Especially the part about 3 points having an effect on his life....well then don't speed? Don't get me wrong i'm not a saint and i've been known to push the limits when i'm late for work etc, slowing down for the cameras and so forth. If I get caught? Well fair game. I took the risk.
If I somehow managed to get out of it due to a technicality, even better. Take the win and move on. Definitely not sure I would be slapping my face all over youtube and Hampshire police's most wanted list though.
But he managed to blag his way out of it and instead of just taking the win, he is making a huge fuss about it...not sure that is the best approach.
Especially the part about 3 points having an effect on his life....well then don't speed? Don't get me wrong i'm not a saint and i've been known to push the limits when i'm late for work etc, slowing down for the cameras and so forth. If I get caught? Well fair game. I took the risk.
If I somehow managed to get out of it due to a technicality, even better. Take the win and move on. Definitely not sure I would be slapping my face all over youtube and Hampshire police's most wanted list though.
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It's possible, perhaps likely, that they thought the weight of evidence they had wasn't sufficient. In that respect I totally agree with the guy about not blindly accepting your fate.
That being said - my impression is that he wanted to take it as far as court on general principal, either because he believed they wouldn't follow through with it (which is borne out here) or because he misunderstood the requirements for prosecution. As said, the opinion of a lone Police officer can be sufficient to convict.
I'm not disputing that the case was a shambles, but I happen to think it was more luck and/or procedural calamitousness, incompetence, etc that meant he didn't get prosecuted, not that he proved his innocence. The cop not turning up basically meant the case was thrown out.
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
Yes I considered that too. But they then allowed the costs to mount up, rather than dropping the case in good time before it actually came to court.
Second time its happened to him .... he may have been unlucky (encountered someone who was having-a-bad-day twice ... but I'd be smelling something fishy too at that point, even though a sample-size-of-one)
Interesting. I don't read it like that but good to have other viewpoints.
I 100% agree it hasn't proved his innocence. But if the police are not going to prosecute they should say so, as soon as they can. It mucks people about waiting 12 months for a court case, no matter how hard nosed they are - I expect it would loom like Damocles Sword for pretty much anyone. And then for them to not turn up and clearly be demonstrating they never had any intention of prosecuting, and deliberately incurring tax payer's money for the Court Costs - I would take that to mean that they were deliberately trying to royally piss me off.
It may have been nothing like that, only got this one-sided-video for "evidence", but if there is even a grain of truth in this then my view is that someone senior should be doing their job and taking a look-see.
(moderator note)
This appears to be something discussed that happened Somewhere outside the US. The reason I mention that, is that discussions about law enforcement in the US are tainted with a lot of "stuff" that has nothing to do with law enforcement itself.
This is a warning that if even a hint of that shows up in this thread, I will lock it, without further comment about it.
I am preemptively saying this because thats what I expect to happen here, even though it hasnt as of yet.
This appears to be something discussed that happened Somewhere outside the US. The reason I mention that, is that discussions about law enforcement in the US are tainted with a lot of "stuff" that has nothing to do with law enforcement itself.
This is a warning that if even a hint of that shows up in this thread, I will lock it, without further comment about it.
I am preemptively saying this because thats what I expect to happen here, even though it hasnt as of yet.
As by way of explanation. I posted originally in the UK and Ireland section as I believed this was of interest to Tesla owners living/driving in England or Wales. (Charlie owns an M3). Scotland has different laws where much more proof is required and as such there are 2 officers in each car. It was moved by mods, out of that section to a worldwide off topic section where I believe its much less relevant.
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